By Lulu Tang - Lumina Learning Practitioner
A fortnight ago a three-day training programme was launched in Lumina Learning’s head office in the UK. This training was about leadership communication, and was carried out by Thomas Bothe.
Thomas is an experienced consultant, specialising in business strategy and leadership communication. He is also a practitioner of Lumina Learning. His training style is well-structured, arresting, flows naturally and is full of fun. Moreover, this training is also very practical. It is really helpful when looking to improve individual communication skills, and develop the efficiency of communication between team members.
The training was divided into three main parts: 1. Clarification of concepts and introduction to the models; 2. Exercises in pairs, increasing self-awareness; 3. Exercises in a group, creating a plan for further development.
What do you think the difference is between a ‘group’ and a ‘team’? Through Thomas’s course we defined a ‘group’ as a collection of people who work together with a similar intention without defining it particularly clearly. A ‘team’ is a small focused set of people working towards a common goal that they have all bought into. The key difference between these two is that everyone in a team needs to make a decision; are they in or out? Are they going to commit to being a team player? Under this condition of active commitment people can then focus on the goal itself, and take 100% responsibility to send and receive necessary information and messages.
As a leader of a team, creating a supportive environment for your team members to get engaged in the conversation is essential. How can you do it? Your eye contact, voice, tone, gesture, emotion, and facial expression are all important. Through Thomas’ training we all practiced exercises to improve our awareness and control over all these elements.
We found an excellent connection with Lumina Spark and the models that Thomas introduced. By working with both models you can have a significant effect on individual development and team building. Firstly Lumina Spark’s portrayal of personality would help them to think about their behaviour in various situations, adjust their approach to adapt to the environment, and control their emotions in order to have an outcome-oriented and collaborative conversation. Second, in a team situation it is crucial for leaders to speed read people, and understand the needs of each individual in the team. Finally, through better understanding of their own personalities individuals are more likely to appreciate each other’s individual approach. This sense of awareness empowers team members to take responsibility and contribute more fully.
This integration of Leadership Communication and Lumina Spark ideas is so intuitive that it is clear that they can be mutually beneficial when enhancing the outcome of both training programs.
Thomas is going to run a one-day training programme with some Lumina practitioners on the 16th December in Lumina Learning HQ in the UK and we are looking forward to the results!
